Scattered Minds: The Origins and Healing of Attention Deficit Disorder by Gabor Maté

ISBN: 9781785042218

Vermilion / Ebury Publishing | 03 January 2019

Paperback | 368 pages

Scattered Minds explodes the myth of attention deficit disorder as genetically based – and offers real hope and advice for children and adults who live with the condition. Gabor Maté is a revered physician who specialises in neurology, psychiatry and psychology – and himself has ADD. With wisdom gained through years of medical practice and research, Scattered Minds is a must‑read for parents – and for anyone interested in how experiences in infancy shape the biology and psychology of the human brain. Scattered Minds demonstrates that ADD is not an inherited illness but a reversible impairment and developmental delay; explains that in ADD, circuits in the brain whose job is emotional self‑regulation and attention control fail to develop in infancy – and why; shows how ‘distractibility’ is the psychological product of life experience; allows parents to understand what makes their ADD children tick, and adults with ADD to gain insights into their emotions and behaviours; expresses optimism about neurological development even in adulthood; and presents a programme of how to promote this development in both children and adults.